Machine for continuous filling and sealing of cans having heat seal ends



June 29, 1965 STARK 3,191,359

MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS FILLING AND SEALING OF CANS HAVING HEAT SEAL ENDS Filed Dec. 18, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. M/PT/A/ H SMRK BY 4/ 501 SETTLE a Can/a firm/wag June 29, 1965 v H. STARK mcnmm FOR commuous FILLING AND smune 0F CANS HAVING HEAT SEAL ENDS Filed Dec. 18, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. MART/M A4 57A 2% June 29, 1965 M. H. STARK 3,191,359

MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS FILLING AND SEALING 0F CANS HAVING HEAT SEAL ENDS Filed Dec. 18, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 MAFT/J/ A. STAQK INVENTOR.

L//L 0/V, SETTLE 08.416

, hmmvEgj June 29, 1965 M. H. STARK 3,1

MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS FILLING AND SEALING OF CANS HAVING HEAT SEAL ENDS Filed Dec. 18, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet v4 INVENTOR. MAfif/A/ STA/2K (Jgo/v, SETTLE 2 CRAIG ,47'70KNE j United States Patent 3 191 359 MACHINE Fon continuous FILLING AND iJEALING 0F CANS HAVING HEAT SEAL NDS Martin H. Stark, 223 N. Porter, Saginaw, Mich. Filed Dec. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 159,993 2 Claims. (Cl. 53-482) The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for closing non-metallic receptacles with heat-conductive closures. More particularly, the invention .relates to such a method and apparatus for applying to a non-metallic can body a metallic closure having a heatactivatable adhesive frictionally engageable with the can and then securing the cap to the body by the application of heat to the closure from a heat source.

The present invention is concerned with the closing of non-metallic, preferably fibrous, e.g., paper, paper board, or the like, receptacles or cans with metallic closures having portions insertable into the can body and bearing a heat activated adhesive which is heated to form a can-to-closure bond.

Such fibrous cans can be used to pack non-liquid products, for example small machine parts, automotive replacement parts or the like and, necessarily, are avail-able in a variety of different sizes. The cans are usually manufactured and sold to the packer with the bottom closure secured in place by conventional seaming or clinching methods. The other can end .is left open to provide for filling by the packer.

Conventional seaming or clinching methods have pre- 'viously been used to close the open ends of the cans after filling, but a conventional automatic closure applying and seaming apparatus is not readily adaptable to low volume, limited production packing of products, such as small machine parts or the like, which must bepacked in various V sizes of cans adapted to the size of the particular product being packed. In the high volume packing of bulky products, such as food, soap, petroleum products or the like, an automatic seaming or clinching apparatus is set up for a given size of can, and each such packing apparatus services only that given size of can throughout a relatively long production run. To adapt conventional automatic seaming or clinching apparatus to low production runs, considerable machine down time, change-over time and tooling expense is encountered in converting from one can size to another.

The present invention proposes .an extremely inexpensive, easily convert-ed, readily adaptable apparatus for automatically closing such non-metallic receptacles with minimum change-over time between successive runs and without expensive tooling costs for various can sizes. Essentially, the present invention utilizes a closure having applied thereto a heat-actuatable adhesive and means for heating the metallic closure to cure or heat the adhesive to an extent sufficient to form an effective bond between the non-metallic receptacle and the metallic closure. Preferably, the closure is placed in registry with the open end of the can body and mechanical pressure, as from a roller, air cylinder or the like, is utilized to fully seat the closure on the can body followed by passage of the can and the closure seated thereon beneath an infra-red heating lamp which is efiective to heat the metallic closure, but not the [fibrous body, to an extent sufficient to effect activation of the adhesive.

Also, the present invention comprehends a machine capable of automatic or semi-automatic continuous packing and closure of variously sized cans. The machine adds to the closing function additional can separating and spacing means together with a continuous conveyor for carrying the can through the closure applying and securing stations of the machine.

3,191,359 Patented June 29, 1965 can closing mechanism utilizing mechanical pressure-ap plying means to fully seat a metallic closure on a fibrous can and then heating the closure to activate a heat responsive adhesive interposed :between the closure and the can.

Yet a further object of this invention is the provision of an apparatus for closing non-metallic receptacles and including a traveling conveyor, means for supplying spaced non-metallic receptacles to the conveyor for travel therewith through successive filling and closure applying, seating and securing stations.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevat-ional view of a can made in accordance with the method of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view similar to FIGURE 1 with parts broken away and in section to illustrate the construction of the can;

'FIGURE 3 is a greatly enlarged sectional view of the can closure only;

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the method of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation of a machine of the present invention for continuous filling and sealing of cans constructed according to the present invention;

FIGURE 6 is a view in perspective of the can feeding mechanism utilized in the machine of FIGURE 5 with parts broken away for clarity;

FIGURE 7 is a left end elevation-a1 view of the machine of FIGURE 5 with the can feeding mechanism removed;

FIGURE 8 is a right end elevational view of the machine of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane 99 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane 1li1tl of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 11 is an enlarged segmental view of one end of the conveyor showing the conveyor mounting and adjusting means;

FIGURE 12 is a partial section corresponding to FIG- URE 9 drawn to an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 13 is a section on the plane 13+-13 of FIG- URE 5 drawn to an enlarged scale and showing the thrust arrangement for holding the closures on the cans while they are cooling to set the adhesive.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

The can and method of FIGURES 14 As best illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 3, the can of the present invention is illustrated in FIGURE 1 by 3 reference numeral 200, the can comprising a fibrous body 201 defined by peripheral or side walls 202 preferably formed of paper board or heavy paper spirally or convolutely wound about a central axis.

The cylindrical body 201 is, of course, initially formed to be open at both ends and, preferably, the lower end of the can is closed by a suitable bottom plate or closure 203, the marginal flange of which is rolled or otherwise clinched into firm gripping engagement with the lower exterior portions of the side walls 202. This clinching of the lower end closure 203 is usually done at the canmanufacturing plant and sufficiently large runs of such cans are madeso as to render economical the formation of the can bottom closure in this manner.

The open upper end of the can body 201 is left open for filling when shipped to a user, this open upper end of the can being adapted to be closed by a metallic closure 205 best illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3 of the drawings.

This upper closure, as best illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3 of the drawings, comprises a central web section 206 surrounded by an upstanding peripheral flange 207 merging smoothly into an out-turned peripheral flange 208 which terminates in a down-turned lip 209. The exterior periphery of the flange 207 is substantially the same in dimension as the interior periphery 210 of the can body 201, and the lateral extent of the out-turned flange 208 is preferably sized such that the free upper extremities 211 of the side walls 202 will be snugly received therein without the necessity of seaming or clinching the down-turned lip 209 onto the can. Thus, the closure 205 fits snugly with a tight frictional fit into the open upper end of the can body 201. Additionally, the free upper ends 21-1 of the side walls 202 are covered by the lateral flange 208.

As illustrated in FIGURE 2 of the drawings, the closure 205 is preferably applied to the can body 201 by initially setting the closure 205 into the open end of the can with the closure occupying its dotted line position of FIGURE 2, namely with the out-turned flange 200 at one side of the can body overlying the upper extremity 211 thereof and the lower extremity of the side flange 207 contacting the upper extremity 211 of the side walls 202 at the opposite side of the can. Next, the closure may be firmly seated on the can body by downward pressure exerted on the upper extremity of the tilted closure downwardly into its solid line position.

The closure 205 is preferably heat sealed into the can body 201 by means of a heat activatable or thermoresponsive adhesive applied to the outer surface of the flange 207 and to the undersurface of the out-turned flange 208, as indicated by reference numeral 212. If the can and/or closure is heated to a temperature above that temperature at which the heat-activatable adhesive becomes tacky and effective to bond the fibrous can body to the metallic closure, then a strongly adherent bond between the closure and thescan will be effected, and

this bond will be maintained after cooling. Of course,

such heat 'activatable adhesives are Well known in the art and the specific adhesives form no part of the present invention.

In FIGURE 4 of the drawings, the method for so applying the closure and an apparatus for carrying out the method is schematically represented. More specifically, reference numeral 215 refers generally to a conveyor surface moving in the direction of arrow 216 and carrying upon its surface a can body 20-1 having loosely applied thereto a closure 205 as previously disclosed, the closure being in its initial tilted position as illustrated and described in connection with FIGURE 2.

The can body 201 and the closure 205 thereon are carried by the conveyor surface 215 beneath the surface of a pressure applying roller 217, the roller being spaced above the surface 215 sufiiciently to accommodate the passage of the can and the closure beneath, but with the roll exerting pressure upon the can closure to urge the 4 same downwardly into fully seated position upon the can body, i.e., with the out-turned flanges 208 in full peripheral contact with the upper extremity 211 of the can body side walls 202.

After passage of the can body and closure beneath the roller 217, the can passes through a heating Zone with heat preferably being supplied by one or more infra-red heating elements, such as bulbs 218. The radiant heat supplied by such bulbs 21 8 positioned above the completely assembled can 200 is exerted primarily upon the closure 205. Since the closure preferably is metallic and a good conductor of heat, the heat is conveyed readily and directly to the adhesive applied to the flanges 207 and 208 of the closure. In this manner, the adhesive is heated without effecting an appreciable temperature increase in the can body 201 or in the contents thereof.

This absence of heating of the canbody has several advantages in that it permits the immediate handling of 'the cans from the exit end of the conveyor 215, it prevents any deleterious heating of the can contents, so long as the contents do not contact the closure 205, and it prevents any possibility of heating the fibrous can body 201 to a degree approaching the kindling temperature of the paper or other material of which the can is constituted.

Thus, it will be seen that the method of the present invention conprehends the manual application of a closure to the can in an unseated condition; the application of pressure directly to the closure to seat the closure upon the can body; and finally the heating of the closure, preferably from an infra-red source, but possibly by induction heating, to insure its bonding the can body by the thermo-responsive adhesive carried by the closure, by the upper inner surface of the can, or by both the closure and the can.

In addition to the other advantages herein recited, the method utilizes closures which can be shipped with the adhesive already applied thereto without the danger of the closures sticking to one another during shipment or storage, so long as they are not heated sufficiently to attain the temperature at which the adhesive is rendered sealingly tacky. Thus, the handling of the closures is greatly simplified in the users operations. Additionally, the roller 217 may be readily adjusted vertically without a great deal of shut-down time being consumed in the adjustment, and the spacing of the infra-red bulbs 218 from the can top is not critical so long as sufficient heat is absorbed by the can closures 205 to actuate the adhesive. Further, the adhesive forms a roughened surface 212 for the flanges 207 and 208 of the closures 205, thus providing a surface for improved frictional engagement with the can body after full insertion of the closures 'and priir to activation of the adhesive.

The apparatus of FIGURES 5-13 The machine of the present invention may conveniently be divided into four basic units; a can feeding mechanism 10, a conveyor 12 and a frame 14 which supports the conveyor 12 and associated can packing and sealing elements. These elements comprise a pair of can spacing solenoid actuated rods 16, 10, a roller 20 for seating the lids on the filled 'cans, a battery of heat lamps 22 for activating the heat seal adhesive and a closure holding or thrust device 24 for applying pressure to the lids or closures while the adhesive sets and the cans and closures cool.

The can feeding mechanism 10, which feeds empty cans onto the conveyor 12 in an upright, aligned position, as may be best seen in FIGURES 5 and 6, comprise a hopper 26 and a fluid cylinder 28 mounted on a suitable frame 30. The hopper 26 has a front wall 32 and a side wall 34 joined thereto at one side edge to form a substantially right angle structure. A cardboard container 36, which holds a plurality of empty cans 40 arranged in several layers 38 separated by means of corrugated spacers 42, is receivable in the hopper 26. The fluid cylinder 28 provides vertical support for the cans 40. While a cardboard container 36 is shown, it is not essential to the operation of the feeding mechanism and other standard can packages, such for example, as a plurality of layers of cans supported on trays, may be used.

The front wall 32 is provided with an opening 44, extending downward from the upper edge adjacent the juncture with the wall 34, for feeding the cans 40 onto the conveyor 12. The width and depth of the opening 44 determines the maximum size of can 49 which can be fed from the hopper 26. The width of the can feeding opening may be adjusted in accordance with a particular .can diameter by means of the slidable panel 46. The panel 46 is slidably attached to the wall 32 by means of pins 48 which extend through an elongated opening 50 in the panel 46. A rotatable crank 52, operatively connected to the panel 46 by means of a pivotally mounted link 54, is provided on the wall 32 to. move the panel 46 to the desired can blocking position.

The layers 38 are fed upwardly towards theopening 44 to a can feeding position by means of the fluid cylinder 28. The cylinder 28 bears against the bottom layer 38 and may be operated by suitable control means (not shown) to move in stages equivalent to the can 40 height plus a spacer 42. The piston rod 29 of the cylinder extends through the bottom of the container 36 which may be partially cut-out to form an additional bottom support member.

The hopper 26 and fluid cylinder 28 are tilted slightly forward towards the conveyor 12 and at substantially a 45 angle sideward to the end that the cans 40 will move towards the opening 44 and feed therefrom by means of gravity. A chute 64 extends from the hopper opening 44 and carries the cans 48 to the conveyor 12.

The conveyor 12 is mounted in the frame 14 which is a substantially oblong structure comprising a plurality of spaced vertical legs 66 interconnected by spaced upper and lower longitudinal cross members 68, 70 and lateral cross members 74. A conveyor supporting structure is provided at each end of the frame 14 comprising an elongated lateral cross member 74 having one end attached to a leg 66 and the opposite end attached to a shorter vertical leg 76 A pair of spaced support members 78, 80 extend at substantially a 45 angle to the elongated cross member 74 and are spaced apart and supported by upper and lower support members 82, 84. The respective upper and lower ends of the frame members 78, 82 are secured to the upper end of the short leg 76 and supported thereby. The support members 82, 84 carry tubular guide cylinders 83 for supporting and guiding a left end movable carriage 86 and a right end movable carriage 88 which in turn support the conveyor 12 at substantially a 45 angle to the horizontal plane.

The conveyor 12 comprises a freely rotatable left end roller 90 and a driving roller 92 mounted at the right end of the frame 14 and interconnected by a flexible, endless conveyor belt 94.

The upper flight of the belt 94 is supported along substantially all of its length by a composite plate 140which extends beneath the belt 94. The plate 140 is supported by a longitudinal support member 142 and a plate 144 which extends at substantially right angles thereto to form a T structure. The upper portion of the plate 144, which is slidably supported by a longitudinal support member 146, provides a supporting surface for the cans 40 to prevent them from falling off the conveyor 12 and also aids in maintaining the conveyor belt 94 on the rollers 98, 92. The cans 40 are further held in place in an upright position by means of a plurality of permanent horseshoe magnets 148, as shown on FIGURES 9 and 10, which are secured to the underside of the plate 140.

As shown in FIGURE 12 the composite plate 140 includes separate strips 141 and 143 magnetically isolated from the rest of the plate by slots. Horseshoe magnets 148 are disposed along the length of the conveyor with their north poles attached to the strip 141 and their south poles attached to the strip .143. The strips are of magnetic material so that they together form a magnet extending the length of the conveyor which attracts the steel caps on the bottoms of the cans and so holds the cans firmly to the conveyor belt 94. The magnets 148 may be supported in a suitable manner (not shown), for example the strips 141 and 143 may be secured to the main body of the plate 140 by any suitable known supports of non-magnetic material.

The freely rotatable roller of the conveyor 12 is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings 96, as may be seen in FIGURE 11. The bearings 96 are slidably mounted in the carriage 86 by means of the slides formed by spaced longitudinal carriage support elements 98, 100. The tension in the belt 94 may be controlled by shifting the roller 98 in the slides by means of a pair of threaded take-up struts 102. The struts 102 have their head ends swivelled in projections 104 of the bearings 96 and their other ends threaded into nuts .105 bearing against the angle webs of the vertical support elements 106 of the carriage 86.- The carriage '86 has a pair of spaced guides 108 freely slidable in guide cylinders 83.

The conveyor driving roller 92, as shown in FIGURE 8, is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings 1 10 which are secured to the carriage 88. A motor 112 and speed reduction mechanism 114 are provided on the carriage 88 to drive the roller 92. The motor 112 is operatively connected to the speed reducer 114 by means of the belt 116 which interconnects the sheave .118 mounted on the output shaft 117 of the motor 112 with the sheave 120 mounted on the input shaft 119 of the speed reducer 114. The speed reducer 114 is in turn operatively connected to the roller 92 by means of a chain 122 which interconnects the sprocket 124 on the output shaft 125 of the reducer 114 and the sprocket 127 of the shaft 126 of the roller 92. The carriage 88 is slidably mounted in a pair of guide cylinders 83 by means of the downwardly extending cylindrical posts 128 in a manner similar to the mounting of the carriage 86. u

A fluid pressure cylinder 130, as shown in FIGURES 7 and 10, is mounted on the angular support member 78 at each end of the frame 14 between the guide cylinders 83. The upper ends of the piston rods 134 are attached to the angular cross-members 136 of the carriages 86, 88 which extend between the posts 108, 128. The carriages 86, 88 and consequently the conveyor 12, may be moved along a line which makes an angle of substantially 45 with the horizontal plane. The machine is thus adjustable to different can heights. The operation of the fluid cylinders may be controlled by any suitable means (not shown).

The frame 14 is provided with angular supporting structures extending from the upper ends of the legs 66 for mounting the solenoid operated spacing rods 16, 18, the lid seating roller 20, the heat lamps 22 and the belt and roller arrangement 24, all above and in parallel alignment with the conveyor 12.

The electrical solenoids 154, 156, which actuate the spacing rods 16, 18, are mounted adjacent thehopper 26 by means of the support elements 150, 152. The solenoids :154, 156 may be activated to move the rods 16, 18, which carry flat plates =17, 19 at the outer ends thereof, transversely of the belt 94 and into and out of the path of the cans at alternate periods so as to space the cans 40 at suitable distances along the conveyor 12. The solenoids 154, 156 are adjustable horizontally so that the space between the can spacing plates 17, 19 is just large enough for one can 40. Retraction of the rod 18 out of engagement with a can 40 and extension of the rod 16 into can engaging position allows one can 40 to move along the conveyor 12. Retraction of the rod 16 and extension of the rod .18 allows the next can 40 to move into position between the rods 16, 18 for release upon the extension of the rod 16 and retraction of the rod 18 as described above. The action of the solenoids 154, 156 may be correlated with the speed of the conveyor 12, the size of the can 40 and the particular can filling operation to provide the proper can 40 feeding rate.

Solenoids 154 and 156 constitute means for moving the spacer 19 into the path of the cans to prevent discharge of any cans from the spacing station and for removing the spacer 19 from the path of the cans while holding the spacer 17 in the path of the can to discharge a single can from the spacing station. The solenoids also constitute means for moving the spacer 17 out of the path of the cans while holding the spacer 19 in the path of the cans to allow the conveyor to move a second can against the spacer 19 and they constitute means for subsequently moving the spacer 17 into the path of the cans and moving the spacer 19 out of the paths again to discharge a second can from the spacing station along the conveyor but at a distance from the first can.

The space next adjacent the rods 16, 18 constitutes a filling station and provides room for the operators who manually fill the cans 40 and place a closure 158 on the open end of each can to be heat-sealed to the can. The closure seating roller 20 is mounted adjacent the loading or filling station and is freely rotatable in a pair of bearings 160 which are mounted on a pair of parallel support members 162 extending from the upper ends of two legs 66 to place the axis of rotation of the roller parallel to the upper flight of the belt 94 of the conveyor 12. 'Filled cans 40 with the closures 158 in place pass beneath the roller 20 in pressure contact therewith whereby the closures 158 are seated firmly on the cans 40. The roller 20 revolves, due to the contact with the cans 40, at a peripheral speed equal to the linear speed of the upper flight of the conveyor 12. V

After the closures 158 have been seated by means of the noller 20 they pass beneath a battery of heat lamps 22 which is mounted on support members 164 parallel to the conveyor 12. The heat lamps 22 activate the adhesive on the cans 40 and/or closures 158 to secure the same in place. While the adhesive is cooling and setting, the cans 40 pass through a cooling station beneath an elongated thrust plate 165, in order to assure that the closures 158 will be firmly seated and secured while the adhesive is setting. To facilitate travel of the cans the endless, flexible belt 166 runs under the thrust plate and over a pair of spaced rollers 168 which are rotatably mounted in bearings 170. The bearings 170 are secured to a'pair of supporting members 172 which extend between two legs 66 in parallel alignment with the conveyor 12. Similarly to the roller 20, the belt 166 will travel at the same speed as the conveyor belt 94 due to the contact with the upper ends of the cans 40.. After the cans 40 pass beneath the belt 166 they may be removed from the conveyor 12 and packed or stored.

In operation, the machine must first be adjusted to accommodate a can'40 of particular size. This requires that the fluid cylinder 28 of the can feeding mechanism be set to advance at increments equal to the thickness of the spacers 42 and can 40 height. The sliding panel 46 must be adjusted to provide an opening slightly larger than the can 40 diameter. The conveyor 12 is also adjusted, by means of the fluid cylinders 130, so that the can closures will be in pressure contact with the roller 20 and belt 166 and the space between the spacing rods 16,

18 should be adjusted to the can 46 diameter. The only manual labor necessary during the operation of the machine is that required to load thehopper 26, fill the cans 40, put the closures 158 in place and remove the filled cans 40 from the conveyor 12.

It will be appreciated that the machine of FIGURES 5-13, while illustrative of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, is susceptible to substantial variation so far as the feeding, spacing, and conveying components thereof are concerned. The broader aspects of the method and apparatus of the present invention are illustrated schematically in FIGURE 4 and are, of course, incorporated into the specific mechanisms of FIGURES 5 through 13.

Many specific variations in the machine of FIGURES 4 through 13 are possible. For example, the feeding arrangement for the empty open-topped cans can be varied substantially, the filling of the cans and the initial closure positioning operations may be readily automated, the closure sealing operations may be performed simultaneously with the closure positioning operation or by a reciprocal mechanism replacing the seating roller 20, or the heat activatable resin may be activated by induction heating rather than radiant heating, without departing from the concept of the present invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An apparatus for applying a metallic closure to a fibrous can comprising a continuous conveyorfor conveying cans from a loading station to a discharge station, means for loading cans on the conveyor at the loading station, a filling station traversed by the conveyor where the cans can be filled and a closure cap placed'on each can, the caps each bearing a heat-activatable adhesive, a roller spaced from the conveyor and having its axis disposed tranversely to the direction of travel of the conveyor, means for adjusting the spacing between the conveyor and the periphery of the roller to a spacing.

corresponding to the height of the can to enable the roller to press the closure caps into a seated position on the cans as they pass between the roller and the conveyor, a heating station traversed by the conveyor downstream from the roller and including radiant heating means spaced above the conveyor to overlie the closure caps for heating the seated closure caps to activate the adhesive.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising means located downstream of said conveyor from said heating station engageable with the. caps seated in cans travelling on said conveyor for holding said caps in seated position while the adhesive activated by said heating means is cooling.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,137,820 5/15 Westlake 53-141 2,092,773 9/37 Nordquist'et al. 53-123 2,291,280 7/42 Joplin 53-316 X 2,312,141 2/43 Wilcox 53-141 2,471,332 5/49 Lemmel 53-38 2,575,544 11/51 Zinn 53-39 2,680,551 6/54 Brosky 53-38 2,697,313 12/54 Wilcox 53-29 3,014,320 12/61 Harrison 53-42 FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, TRAVIS S. McGEI-IEE,

Examiners. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING A METALLIC CLOSURE TO A FIBROUS CAN COMPRISING A CONTINUOUS CONVEYOR FOR CONVEYING CANS FROM A LOADING STATION TO A DISCHARGE STATION, MEANS FOR LOADING CANS ON THE CONVEYOR AT THE LOADING STATION, A FILLING STATION TRAVERSED BY THE CONVEYOR WHERE THE CANS CAN BE FILLED AND A CLOSURE CAP PLACED ON EACH CAN, THE CAPS EACH BEARING A HEAT-ACTIVATABLE ADHESIVE, A ROLLER SPACED FROM THE CONVEYOR AND HAVING ITS AXIS DISPOSED TRANSVERSELY TO THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF THE CONVEYOR, MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE SPACING BETWEEN THE CONVEYOR AND THE PERIPHERY OF THE ROLLER TO A SPACING CORRESPONDING TO THE HEIGHT OF THE CAN TO ENABLE THE ROLLER TO PRESS THE CLOSURE CAPS INTO A SEATED POSITION ON THE CANS AS THEY PASS BETWEEN THE ROLLER AND THE CONVEYOR, A HEATING STATION TRAVERSED BY THE CONVEYOR DOWNSTREAM FROM THE ROLLER AND INCLUDING RADIANT HEATING MEANS SPACED ABOVE THE CONVEYOR TO OVERLIE THE CLOSURE CAPS FOR HEATING THE SEATED CLOSURE CAPS TO ACTIVATE THE ADHESIVE. 